Rehab would alter Sarasota High's open-air interior

Published: Friday, February 8, 2013 at 12:56 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, February 8, 2013 at 7:28 p.m.

SARASOTA - Local architectural preservationists thought they had scored a victory with the rehabilitation of Sarasota High School’s Building No. 4, the work of noted designer Paul Rudolph in 1958. But not quite.

While they applaud an exterior restoration, many contend the interior “is being gutted,” said Janet Minker, president of the Sarasota Architectural Foundation.

Much of the friction stems from drawings by architecture firm Harvard Jolly, which was hired by the Sarasota County School Board to design a campuswide renovation. Drawings call for open-air hallways — a hallmark of the Rudolph design — to be enclosed, and for the entire floor plan to be remodeled. Work is scheduled to begin with asbestos abatement this spring.

School Board chairwoman Jane Goodwin said the enclosure is necessary to accommodate state-of-the-art math, science and technology classrooms, and to enhance student safety.

“It’s tough to design a 21st-century learning environment in a 1960s building,” said Bill Harvard, of Harvard Jolly. He said the spare, modernist building lacks space for wiring and other utilities.

But to Minker, the changes mean the building’s exterior, with walls of glass and white sun shades, would become “a shell.”

School Board chief operating officer Scott Lempe told Minker late last year it was too late to change the plans, even if he wanted to — which he doesn’t.

The fight over Building No. 4’s future comes in the wake of the 2009 demolition of Riverview High, another Rudolph design.

Though the school had many functional issues — including a leaking roof and walls — preservationists were distraught over the loss of what they considered a local architectural treasure. School officials said they needed the land under the old school for a new building, which debuted in 2011.

With Riverview in mind, Minker and several foundation members are battling back and expressing their objections to School Board members. Their chorus is gaining traction, too. At a Convocation of Governments meeting Jan. 18, several Sarasota County commissioners also appealed to Goodwin.

“Here we are in Sarasota County, known for the Sarasota school of architecture, and we’ve got a world-renowned architect in Paul Rudolph,” said Commissioner Joe Barbetta, adding that character-defining interior elements “should be maintained.

“I implore you to abide by those things and not go in and gut this,” Barbetta added. “This is an asset of the entire community.”

Despite the protests, though, it appears likely that the inside of the Rudolph building will be altered significantly.

The conflict centers on a pledge by the School Board contained in a brief document known as “the stipulation.” In it, the board promised to “appropriately rehabilitate” Rudolph’s Sarasota High addition. The board also promised that school staff would meet with county officials to discuss changes to maintain architectural integrity. About a half-dozen meetings occurred, said David Baber, general manager of the Sarasota County History Center at the time. To the foundation, “appropriately rehabilitate” meant abiding by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s standards for the rehabilitation of historic structures, said Baber, now historic preservation coordinator in Broward County.

“I was very clear that there was only one appropriate standard . . . that being the Secretary of the Interior’s standards,” Baber said. “That was a fundamental part of our conversations in the meetings we had. That is what they agreed to.”

But the two sides have split over the phrase’s definition, and appropriate standards.

“We never talked about renovation, restoration, rehabilitation, use of the buildings,” said Lempe. “The effort was, get something in writing that obligates the School Board to not tear the building down.”

The School Board essentially signalled its intentions for Sarasota High a year ago, when it issued a document to architect candidates listing “the renovation of the historic Rudolph Building 4.” The wording was significant because architects view renovation as significantly different from rehabilitation. Still, preservationists were buoyed in June 2012, when a public-design charette for the campus work resulted in plans to keep both Building No. 4 and its gymnasium, also designed by Rudolph in 1958. It also retained a large, open breezeway — a victory for the architectural foundation.

The plans called, too, for the exterior of the building to be restored to its original appearance. Walls of glass on the first floor, which were replaced with concrete block years ago, are set to be reinstalled to meet energy and windstorm codes. Additionally, Building No. 4’s roofline is expected to be restored to its original zigzag profile.

But delighted as they were by the exterior, the interior renderings remained a concern.

Gregory Hall, a Sarasota preservation architect, believes the structure’s “unique inside-outside nature” will be lost if current plans go forward.

Last summer, with Hall’s help, the architectural foundation developed what it termed best practices for the rehabilitation, using guidelines from the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

“The SHS interior spaces are equal in importance to the building’s exterior massing and detail,” Hall wrote in a letter to the Herald-Tribune. In December, Minker and foundation board members met with Harvard Jolly project architect Drazen Ahmedic and the School Board’s Lempe.

“The exterior plans looked very good,” Minker said. “Then they showed us the interior of Building 4. They are destroying all these important elements that make it so unique, such as the walkways and the transoms and skylights and so forth. We were very disappointed.”

Lempe counters that saving an important piece of architecture and updating it so that it can continue to be used for its original purpose, “are enormous wins, and to get there we are going to lose some things, like the architectural detail around the doorways. That is OK with me.”

Some students and teachers, too, contend updating the building’s “learning environment” is more important than restoring its interior.

“It is not a museum, it is my school,” Sarasota High student Shelby Shea told the school board on Feb. 5. “We should make sure we have the best facilities, not for people to drive by and admire, but for us to have everything we need to learn.”

Lempe added in mid-January that county commissioners “don’t have the level of knowledge” about the complexities of rehabilitating the building to contemporary educational standards.

“I would argue that their characterization of what ‘the stipulation’ means is wrong,” he said, adding the Secretary of the Interior standards do not apply because no federal funds are being used at Sarasota High.

School Board chair Goodwin, however, has pledged to reconsider plans for the building’s interior.

“We have discussed going back to the drawing board,” Goodwin told Barbetta. “I can see both sides of it.”

Lempe, too, appears to have modified his stance of late.

“Our internal design team is looking at if there are options even worth exploring,” Lempe said a school board meeting Tuesday. “Our preservationist, Jonathan Parks, is meeting with the SAF folks. In the meantime, the project proceeds.”

<p><em>SARASOTA</em> - Local architectural preservationists thought they had scored a victory with the rehabilitation of Sarasota High School's Building No. 4, the work of noted designer Paul Rudolph in 1958. But not quite.</p><p>While they applaud an exterior restoration, many contend the interior “is being gutted,” said Janet Minker, president of the Sarasota Architectural Foundation.</p><p>Much of the friction stems from drawings by architecture firm Harvard Jolly, which was hired by the Sarasota County School Board to design a campuswide renovation. Drawings call for open-air hallways — a hallmark of the Rudolph design — to be enclosed, and for the entire floor plan to be remodeled. Work is scheduled to begin with asbestos abatement this spring.</p><p>School Board chairwoman Jane Goodwin said the enclosure is necessary to accommodate state-of-the-art math, science and technology classrooms, and to enhance student safety.</p><p>“It's tough to design a 21st-century learning environment in a 1960s building,” said Bill Harvard, of Harvard Jolly. He said the spare, modernist building lacks space for wiring and other utilities.</p><p>But to Minker, the changes mean the building's exterior, with walls of glass and white sun shades, would become “a shell.”</p><p>School Board chief operating officer Scott Lempe told Minker late last year it was too late to change the plans, even if he wanted to — which he doesn't.</p><p>The fight over Building No. 4's future comes in the wake of the 2009 demolition of Riverview High, another Rudolph design.</p><p>Though the school had many functional issues — including a leaking roof and walls — preservationists were distraught over the loss of what they considered a local architectural treasure. School officials said they needed the land under the old school for a new building, which debuted in 2011.</p><p>With Riverview in mind, Minker and several foundation members are battling back and expressing their objections to School Board members. Their chorus is gaining traction, too. At a Convocation of Governments meeting Jan. 18, several Sarasota County commissioners also appealed to Goodwin. </p><p>“Here we are in Sarasota County, known for the Sarasota school of architecture, and we've got a world-renowned architect in Paul Rudolph,” said Commissioner Joe Barbetta, adding that character-defining interior elements “should be maintained.</p><p>“I implore you to abide by those things and not go in and gut this,” Barbetta added. “This is an asset of the entire community.”</p><p>Despite the protests, though, it appears likely that the inside of the Rudolph building will be altered significantly.</p><p>The conflict centers on a pledge by the School Board contained in a brief document known as “the stipulation.” In it, the board promised to “appropriately rehabilitate” Rudolph's Sarasota High addition. The board also promised that school staff would meet with county officials to discuss changes to maintain architectural integrity. About a half-dozen meetings occurred, said David Baber, general manager of the Sarasota County History Center at the time. To the foundation, “appropriately rehabilitate” meant abiding by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior's standards for the rehabilitation of historic structures, said Baber, now historic preservation coordinator in Broward County.</p><p>“I was very clear that there was only one appropriate standard . . . that being the Secretary of the Interior's standards,” Baber said. “That was a fundamental part of our conversations in the meetings we had. That is what they agreed to.”</p><p>But the two sides have split over the phrase's definition, and appropriate standards.</p><p>“We never talked about renovation, restoration, rehabilitation, use of the buildings,” said Lempe. “The effort was, get something in writing that obligates the School Board to not tear the building down.”</p><p>The School Board essentially signalled its intentions for Sarasota High a year ago, when it issued a document to architect candidates listing “the renovation of the historic Rudolph Building 4.” The wording was significant because architects view renovation as significantly different from rehabilitation. Still, preservationists were buoyed in June 2012, when a public-design charette for the campus work resulted in plans to keep both Building No. 4 and its gymnasium, also designed by Rudolph in 1958. It also retained a large, open breezeway — a victory for the architectural foundation.</p><p>The plans called, too, for the exterior of the building to be restored to its original appearance. Walls of glass on the first floor, which were replaced with concrete block years ago, are set to be reinstalled to meet energy and windstorm codes. Additionally, Building No. 4's roofline is expected to be restored to its original zigzag profile.</p><p>But delighted as they were by the exterior, the interior renderings remained a concern.</p><p>Gregory Hall, a Sarasota preservation architect, believes the structure's “unique inside-outside nature” will be lost if current plans go forward.</p><p>Last summer, with Hall's help, the architectural foundation developed what it termed best practices for the rehabilitation, using guidelines from the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.</p><p>“The SHS interior spaces are equal in importance to the building's exterior massing and detail,” Hall wrote in a letter to the Herald-Tribune. In December, Minker and foundation board members met with Harvard Jolly project architect Drazen Ahmedic and the School Board's Lempe.</p><p>“The exterior plans looked very good,” Minker said. “Then they showed us the interior of Building 4. They are destroying all these important elements that make it so unique, such as the walkways and the transoms and skylights and so forth. We were very disappointed.”</p><p>Lempe counters that saving an important piece of architecture and updating it so that it can continue to be used for its original purpose, “are enormous wins, and to get there we are going to lose some things, like the architectural detail around the doorways. That is OK with me.”</p><p>Some students and teachers, too, contend updating the building's “learning environment” is more important than restoring its interior.</p><p>“It is not a museum, it is my school,” Sarasota High student Shelby Shea told the school board on Feb. 5. “We should make sure we have the best facilities, not for people to drive by and admire, but for us to have everything we need to learn.”</p><p>Lempe added in mid-January that county commissioners “don't have the level of knowledge” about the complexities of rehabilitating the building to contemporary educational standards.</p><p>“I would argue that their characterization of what 'the stipulation' means is wrong,” he said, adding the Secretary of the Interior standards do not apply because no federal funds are being used at Sarasota High.</p><p>School Board chair Goodwin, however, has pledged to reconsider plans for the building's interior.</p><p>“We have discussed going back to the drawing board,” Goodwin told Barbetta. “I can see both sides of it.” </p><p>Lempe, too, appears to have modified his stance of late.</p><p>“Our internal design team is looking at if there are options even worth exploring,” Lempe said a school board meeting Tuesday. “Our preservationist, Jonathan Parks, is meeting with the SAF folks. In the meantime, the project proceeds.”</p>